Big Miss For UK Manufacturing As Output Crumbles In October

Not good news for the government, less than six months from a general election. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez UK industrial output dropped 0.1% in October from September, and manufacturing production slumped 0.7% in the same period, according to figures just out.

Analysts had expected a 0.2% increase in industrial production from September, and a similar increase from manufacturing, which would have left industrial and manufacturing output up 1.8% and 3.2% respectively.

Instead, the drop leaves industrial production up just 1.1% year-on-year, and manufacturing up only 1.7%.

This is one of the earliest signs of how the economy is performing in the fourth quarter of the year, and it's not good so far.

Growth in manufacturing has been a lot weaker than the services sector. Output is still well below 2008 levels, as the Office for National Statistics shows: